Transcript

1.
Chapter 4A solar chimney is an air-heating solar collector that runsautomatically, on sun power alone. Of all the passive heatingsystems, it loses the least heat when the sun is not shining.Except for solar windows, solar chimneys (also calledconvective loops) are the most common solar heatingsystems in the world. Variations on the design are used to heat water fordomestic purposes. Hundreds of thousands of pumpless,"thermosiphoning" (heat convecting) solar water heatershave been used for decades. In fact, convective loop waterheaters were patented in 1909. By 1918, 4,000 such waterheaters were in operation in Southern California. Solar chimney wall-mounted collectors cancomplement south-facing windows in supplyingadditional solar heat directly to both new and existinghouses. In conventional wood-framed houses, up to 25percent of the heat can be supplied by combining solarwindows and solar chimneys without supplementalthermal storage. A combined system of52

2.
Solar Chimneys 53roughly 200 square feet can achieve the 25 percent figure fora well-insulated 1500-square-foot house in a cold climate.Half as much area is needed in a mild climate.Basic System Design A solar chimney wall collector is similar to a flat-plate collector used for active systems. A layer or two of glass or plastic covers a black absorber. Air may flow in a channel either in front of or behind the absorber, depending on the design. The air may also flow through the absorber if it is perforated. The collector is backed by insulation. In the figure on the next page, the collector is mounted on,or made a part of, the insulated wall. Openings at the bottomand top of the wall permit cooler air from the house to enterthe hot collector at the base of the wall, to rise as the sunheats it, and to vent back into the building near the ceiling. The slow-moving collector air must be able to come incontact with as much of the absorbers surface area aspossible without being slowed down too much. In fact, theamount of heat transferred from the absorber to the flowingair is in direct proportion to the heat-transfer capabilities ofthe absorber and the speed of the air flow by or through it. Up to six layers of expanded metal lath is used in someabsorbers. In these, the air rises in front of the lath, passesthrough it, and leaves the collector through a channel behindthe lath. Flat or corrugated metal is also used, but it does nottransfer heat as well. However, the air flow channel in thiscase need not be as deep. The metal should

3.
Solar Chimneys 55be placed in the center of the channel, if possible, so that airflows on both sides. This is more difficult to do and requirestwo glazing layers instead of one. Construct the collectors carefully and insulate them well}particularly the upper areas that are likely to be hottest. Avoidinsulations or glazings that will melt. If the collector’s flowshould be blocked for some reason on a sunny day, itstemperature can reach over 300°F. Wood construction isusually satisfactory, but be sure to provide for wood shrinkageand for the expansion and contraction of materials as theirtemperatures fluctuates.Systems with Heat StorageCollectors that are large enough to supply more than 25percent of the desired heat require heat storage. The storage inan air system is usually a large bin of rocks. It must bedesigned to maximize heat transfer from the air stream to therocks without noticeably slowing the air flow. Rocks withsmall diameters (3 to 6 inches) have large amounts of surfacearea for absorbing heat} and yet allow passages for air flow.The rocks should be roughly the same size (that is} don}t mix1 inch with 4 inch) or most of the airways will be clogged.Storage should contain at least 200 pounds of rock (1 1/2 cubicfeet) per square foot of collector. As shown in the diagram}storage should be located

4.
56 Passive Solar HeatingThe cross-sectional area of the rock bed above the collector but below the house. This permitsreceiving air from the collector should rangefrom one-half to three-quarters the surface solar heated air to rise into the house and cooler air toarea of the collector. The warm air from the settle in the collector.collector should flow down through the rocks,and the supply air from storage to the houseshould flow in the reverse direction. Optimumrock size depends on rock bed depth. Steve Air FlowBaer recommends gravel as small as 1 inch forrockbeds 2 feet deep and up to 6 inches for Designing a convective air loop system is a somewhat tricky anddepths of 4 feet. * For best heat transfer in difficult task. If you arent very respectful of the will of the air, theactive systems, bed depths are normally at system wont work.least 20 rock diameters. That is, if the rock is 4inches in diameter, the bed should be at least Steve Baer6 1/2 feet deep in order to remove most of the As with active collectors, the slower the air flow, the hotterheat from the air before it returns to thecollector. This should be considered a the absorber and the greater the heat loss through the glazing.maximum depth for convective loop rockbeds. This results in a lower collector efficiency. Good air flow* See Sunspots by Steve Baer, Zomeworks keeps the absorber cool and transports the maximum possibleCorporation, Albuquerque, NM. amount of heat into the house flow.

5.
Solar Chimneys 57channels should be as large as possible, and bends andturns in the ducts should be minimized to preventrestriction of air flow. Conventional air heating collectors use fans and have airchannels only 1 ½ to 1 inch deep. Without fans, air channelsin convective loop collectors range from 2 to 6 inches deep. Convective flow of air is created by a difference intemperature between the two sides of the convective loops,for example, between the average temperature in the collectorand the average temperature of the adjacent room. It is alsoaffected by the height of the loop. The best air flow occurswhen the collector is hottest, the room is coolest, and theheight of the collector is as tall as possible. The vertical distance to the top of the collector from theground (this is not necessarily the collector length, since thecollector is tilted) should be at least 6 feet to obtain thenecessary effect. It should be tilted at a pitch of not less than a45° angle to the ground, to allow for a good angle of receptionto the sun and for the air to flow upward.Reverse air convectionIn an improperly designed system, reverse air convection canoccur when the collector is cool. A cool collector can drawheat from the house or from storage. Up to 20 percent of theheat gained during a sunny day can be lost through thisprocess by the following day. There are three primary methods of automaticallypreventing reverse convection. One is to build the collector ina location below the heat storage and below the house. Asecond is to install backdraft dampers that automatically closewhen air flows in the wrong direction. One such damper ismade of lightweight, thin plastic film. A lightweight "frisket"paper used in the photography industry has also been usedsuccessfully. Warm air flow gently pushes it open. Reversecool air flow causes the plastic to fall back against thescreened opening, stopping air flow. Ideally, both top andbottom vents should be equipped with such dampers.This is discussed in more detail in two excellent magazine articles by W. ScottMorris (Solar Age, September 1978 and January 1979, Harrisville, N.H. 034501.

7.
Solar Chimneys 59 The third method of reducing reverse convection is to placethe intake vent slightly lower than the outlet vent near the topof the wall. The back of the absorber is insulated and centered Collector Areabetween the glazing and the wall. Inlet cool air from the Only a small collector area is neededceiling drops into the channel behind the absorber. The solar to heat a house in the spring and fallheated air rises in the front channel, drawing cooler air in when the heating demand is low.behind it. The warmed air enters the room at the top of the Additional collector area provides heatwall. When the Sun is not shining, the air in both channels over a fewer number of months, onlycools and settles to the bottom of the "U -tube." Only minor during the middle of the heatingreverse convection occurs. Because of the longer air-travel season. Therefore, each additionaldistances involved, the U-tube collector will not be as square foot of collector suppliesefficient, aerodynamically, as the straight convective loop. It slightly less energy to the house thanwill also be more expensive to build. the previous square foot. The useful amount of heat supplied from a solar collector ranges from 30, 000 to 120,000 Btus per square foot per winter. The high numbers in this range are for undersized systems in cold, sunny climates. The low numbers are for oversized systems orCosts and Performance for very cloudy climates. In cold climates of average sunshine such asMaterials costs of solar chimney collectors can be as little as a Boston, Massachusetts, 80,000 Btus per square foot per heating season isfew dollars per square foot. Materials are usually available typical, when the solar system is sizedlocally. Contractor-built collectors can cost $7 to $15 per to contribute 50 percent of the heat.square foot. Operating costs are nonexistent, and maintenance The output of the collectors drops tocosts should be very low. 50,000 Btus when sized to provide 65 Performance depends largely on delicate, natural to 70 percent of the heat. (Forconvection currents in the system. Therefore, proper design, comparison, roughly 80,000 Btus arematerials, and construction are important. In a well-built obtainable from a gallon of oil.)collector, air flow can be low to nonexistent at times of littleor no Sun, but will increase rapidly during sunny periods.Average collection efficiency is similar to that of lowtemperature, flat-plate collectors used in standard activesystem designs.